Revolving firearm.



- in. 702,607. Patented June l7, I902;

x J. H. WESSON.

REVOLVING FIREARM.

(Application filed Jan. 2. 1902.)

- (No Model.)

HE uoRms PETERS 90. mmuumou wAsMmu'rON. o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. WESSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

REVOLVING Fl REARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 702,607, dated June 17,1902. Application filed January 2,1902. Serial No. 88,156- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. WESSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates,res'iding at Sprin gfield, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented newand useful Improvements in RevolvingFirearms, of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to the construction of firearms, andparticularly to that type of revolving firearms in which the cylinderswings sidewise out of the frame of the arm;

and the object of the invention is to provide means for locking the rearend'of the cylin der in the frame and in coincidently locking the frontend of the yoke in which the cylinder is mounted to the frame, to theendthat the chambers of the cylinders may always be brought intoalinement with the barrel when the parts are in firing position; and theinvention consists in the provision of a lockingbolt for the front endof the yoke extending from the rear of the cylinder through the frame tothe front end thereof and actuated by a slide on the frame, which slidealso actuates locking means for the rear end of the cylinder.

In the drawings forming part of this application, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a part of a revolver, partlyin section, embodyingmyinvention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of substantially the same parts,showing in dotted lines the cylinder swung out of the frame. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of the barrel and a part of the frame, showing also theyoke in a swung-out position. Fig. l is a sectional View through theframe and yoke on line 4. 4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of ayoke-locking bolt. Fig. dis a side elevation, partly in section,showinga slightlyodified construction of the parts shown in lg. 1; V

In the drawings, let 0. indicate the frame .of the firearm, and b thecylinder, which is hung on a pin a, fixed in a yoke 01 by one end, saidyoke swiveling in the frame, the axis thereof being indicated bye.

Generally speaking, there are two methods in use for locking the rearend of the sideswinging cylinder in the frame of the firearm,

one of which has a center-pin ext-ending axially through the cylinderand entering a hole in the frame at the rear end of the cylinder. Theother method consists in suppressing the center-pin and inlocating aslide in the frame at the rear of the cylinder, with which a short boltis connected, which slides into a hole in the rear end of the cylinder.The second of these types is illustrated in Fig. 1 and the first in Fig.6. My invention is equally well adapted to both, and it is shown anddescribed herein as applied to both.

While the preferred construction is to 10- cats the looking-bolt for thefront end of the yoke (in its passage around the cylinder) axially ofthe pivot-pin of the yoke, it may, if desired, pass around the cylinderat some other point.

As stated above, the axis of the yoke d consists of the pin 6,preferably integral with the yoke and parallel with the pin a, on whichthe cylinder is supported. This axis or pin 6 passes through a holebored through the frame in a line parallel with the barrel, the end ofthe pin entering the space between the sides of the frame just above thetrigger. Through this pin a I bore a hole for the reception of the longarm of an L-shaped yoke-locking bolt f. (Shownin Fig. 5.) The short armof this bolt is flat and stands substantially at right angles to thelong arm thereof, as shown. The upper end of this short arm is turned atan angle to the latter, and the end of said outturned portion isprovided with a short round nose g, projecting beyond the vertical edgeof the short arm parallel with the long arm of the bolt and pointing inthe direction of the end thereof. The latter is screw-threaded, andaround head j is screwed thereon. The pin 6 for a short distance backfrom the end thereof is. counterbored, as at h, and in this counterboredchamber is located a coiled spring '5, which, acting against the head jand the bottom ofthe counterbore, tends to force the bolt or slide is,to which a short bolt m is secured through a slot in the side plate.This bolt enters a hole in the center of the rear end of the cylinderand is held in engagement therewith by means of a spring. (Not shown inthe drawings.) Pivoted at '22 below the bolt m is a swinging lever 0,the upper end of which engages and is moved by the thumb-piece it at i apoint inside of the side plate. The lower end of this lever 0 bearsagainst one end of a sliding block 19, whose opposite end bears againstthe headj, this block being limited in its movement by a pin fixed inthe frame which passes through an elongated slot (1 in the block. It isclearly seen from this description that when the slide is drawn back theblock 19 will be forced forward, thus moving the locking-bolt fforwardly. WVhere this bolt extends upwardly from the axis of thecylinder-pin c it is let into a slot cut into the front edge of theyoke, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the front edge of the short arm of thebolt will normally be flush with the front edge of the yoke. As statedabove, however, the upper end of this short arm of the boltfis bentsubstantially at right angles to said arm, and reference to Fig. 2 willshow that this upper portion of the short arm is carried far enough toone side to extend across the meeting line of the yoke with the frame.Said yoke and frame portion have a transverse slot milled therein, asshown in Figs. 3 and 4., to receive this bent-out end of the verticalarm of the locking-bolt, and in line with the nose 9 there is drilled inthe frame a hole 0" (shown in said figures) for the reception of saidnose and intowhich it is forced by the spring 2' when the parts of thearm are in firing position. The short arm of the yoke-locking boltf maybe varied more or less in height and in its other dimensions, ifdesired; but it best serves its purpose when the upper end thereofextends upwardly nearly to the axis of the cylinder. From thisdescription it is seen that the entire body of the short arm lies withina slot in the yoke and that the upper end thereof extends across themeeting-line between the yoke and the frame, and the nose g on said boltengages with a hole bored in the frame, thereby providing interlockingmeans between the upper end of the yoke and the frame possessing greatstrength. It is, moreover, of comparatively simple construction and iseasily operated simultaneously with the operation of withdrawing thebolt m from the rear end of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 1, or in theact of forcing the center-pin out of engagement with the frame, as shownin Fig. 6.

As these arms are usually constructed when the cylinder is swung intothe frame the bolt m will be forced backward by the contact of thecircular row of ratchet-teeth on the rear end of the cylinder with theend of the bolt m or by contact of the center-pin with the frame beforethe nose g on the end of the locking-boltfcan come in contact with thepart of the frame under the barrel, the movement imparted to the bolt mor the center-pin operating to push forward the nose g, so that by thetime the cylinder is in proper position the nose g will also be inposition to move into the hole r in the frame designed to receive it. Toprovide, however, against the upsetting of the edge of the nose bystriking against the frame part, the nose may be beveled, as shown inFigs. 4 and 5, if desired, whereby it may be forced endwise upon contactthereof with the frame.

Referring to Fig. 6, there is shown therein a type of firearm in which acenter-pin c is moved rearwardly by a spring to enter a hole in theframe a, from which it is pushed outwardly by means of a slide 3, havinga short stud t thereon which engages with the end of the center-pin.This slide is operated by a thumb-piece u. (Shown in dotted lines insaid Fig. 6 only.)

To provide means whereby my present invention may be applied torevolvers of this type, I construct the slide 8 with a downwardly andforwardly projecting arm '1), the lower end of which takes the form ofthe block 19 and cooperates in like manner with the head j on thelocking-bolt f, the latter being applied to the cylinder-yoke andengaging the frame of the arm in all respects the same as does said boltwhen applied to the type of firearm shown in Fig. 1. No change of anymoment is thus required to adapt this cylinder-yoke lock to the type offirearm shown in Fig. 6 except to lengthen the slide 3 in the mannerdescribed to engage the head j of said locking-bolt.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a revolver having a side-swinging cylinder, a cylinder-yoke, and alocking device between the yoke and the frame in front of the cylinder;a locking device between the rear end of the cylinder and the frame, anda device located in the frame between the yokelock and thecylinder-lock, and operatively connected with each, whereby both of saidlocks may be simultaneously operated.

2. In a revolver having a side-swinging cylinder, a cylinder-yoke, and alockin g device between the frame and said yoke in front of thecylinder; a locking device between the rear end of the cylinder and theframe; connecting members extending through the axis of thecylinder-yoke between said two looking devices, whereby they may becoincidently operated.

3. In a revolver having a side-swinging cylinder, a cylinder-yoke, and alocking device between said yoke and the frame contiguous thereto,consisting of an L-shaped lockingbolt, one arm of which is parallel withthe yoke and the other arm of which extends through the axis ofthe yoke;an ofiset meln- I eration of both may be simultaneously efber on the armof said bolt in the yoke exfected.

tendin across the meetin" line of the frame and YOTKG and. adapted to engage the former; JOSEPH WESSON 5 a locking device for the rear end ofthe cylin- 4 WVitnesses:

der, and connecting means between the yoke- K. I. CLEMONS,

lock and the cylinder-100k, whereby the op- H. A. GHAPINL

